


Hope and Heroes

by Zola9612



Series: Soul Stone Shenanigans [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Child Abuse, Gen, Howard's A++ Parenting, Kid Fic, Kid Tony Stark, M/M, Minor Violence, Other, Soul Bond, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes, a/b/o dynamics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-04
Updated: 2019-06-04
Packaged: 2020-04-07 18:46:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19090927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zola9612/pseuds/Zola9612
Summary: Young Tony was born without a soul mark. How does that affect his life?





	Hope and Heroes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [endof_theline](https://archiveofourown.org/users/endof_theline/gifts).



**1974**

            Tony was excited. He had finally completed the modifications on the Lamborghini V12 engine that his father had told him to complete. His dad would be so proud. He knew that the engine originally could only push a car up to 170 mph, but with his modifications, it could push a car up to 210 mph. He rushed up the stairs leading from the garage to the mansion. He had to show his dad now. He ran by the kitchen, the dining room, and the ballroom. He climbed the stairs in the mansion and sprinted to his dad’s office. He stopped and knocked on the door. His dad told him to never enter the office without permission and that to gain permission required a knock on the door.

    “Enter,” his dad’s voice called out. Tony grabbed the door knob and turned. He pushed the door open and saw that his dad was on the phone standing behind his desk. He shut the door and turned to sit in an office chair. His dad said to never interrupt him on the phone because it could be important to Stark Industries. He started to count the Fibonacci Sequence to pass the time. He had reached the 107th number in the sequence when his dad placed the phone receiver onto the cradle and turned to him. “What do you wish to speak to me about, Anthony?”

       “I have finished the engine modifications that you have requested of me. I have left the finished engine on cinder blocks for your inspection.” His dad gave him an assessing look and sniff. “And you are positive that it will meet my expectations? I only gave you that assignment one day ago. This is the only chance you have to back out of my inspection to ‘fix’ any problems that you believe are still there.” He nods. There were no problems in his mind. The engine must pass the muster. There were no other options. The consequences would not be pleasant otherwise. “Don’t smell so excited. That’s another lesson you haven’t learned yet. Only be excited once a deal has gone through or when an invention or modification is in complete working order.” Tony nodded. His father walked around the desk and opened the door. He gestured for Tony to be the first to leave. Tony rose from the chair and walked out the door and down the stairs, his father’s heavy footfalls following behind him.

    Tony opened the garage door and stepped back into the kitchen, waiting for his father to go through first. A quick glance was thrown his way before his father climbed down the stairs. Tony waited a minute or two to allow his father a chance to look at the engine, then followed.

       Before he even reached the last step, his father was already yelling at him. “You call this piece of junk improved and finished?! It’s something I could do in my sleep. You are supposed to be better than me, not worse. It’s larger than it was before and way too bulky. You know what happens when your inventions and improvements don’t pass muster, don’t you?” Tony gulped and shivered, scent souring the room. Last time, it was no food for a week. At least he’d been allowed water which filled his stomach a little. His father scrunched up his nose, disgust plain to see at the scent of Tony’s fear. His father walked to the far wall and grabbed a sledgehammer, lifting it into the air. “At least now I know why you weren’t born with a soul mark. You’re too stupid and too disappointing to have a soulmate.” Tony’s heart shattered the same as the engine as his father brought down the literal and metaphorical hammer on his hopes and dreams.

    No matter if you were Omega, Beta, or Alpha, a person was (almost always) guaranteed to be born with a soul mark of some form. It could be the first words said to each other or a matching symbol. These marks were a promise that you would eventually meet the one meant for you. It could be when you were children or when you were on your deathbed, though most people meet their soulmates between sixteen and twenty. Tony was an outlier. He was born without a soul mark. The doctors were stumped. There was no record, written or oral, fact or fiction, about babies being born without a soul mark. His mom always looked at him with pain in her eyes and his father saw it as more ammo to further belittle him.

     Tony had hoped that by getting smarter and making better stuff, he’d eventually get a soul mark and a soulmate. His father had just made it clear to him that he never would get to have a soulmate by utterly destroying his engine. Something whizzed by his head and his cheek began to sting. Tony was pulled out of his head and saw his father with pieces of the broken engine in his hands. He raised his hand to his face drew it back. His fingers were covered in blood. He looked at it in shock. His father had never caused him to bleed before. His father began to chuckle. “Surprised, huh? Didn’t think I’d actually harm you? Ha! You’re such a failure that I’ll have to try again for another heir. A disappointing first attempt, I think.” His father said maliciously as he fondled the longest and sharpest piece of broken engine. Tony paled and turned tail. He had to get away. He had only made it to the threshold of the foyer when he was grabbed from behind.

      His father had his arm under Tony’s neck, holding him airborne and choking him. The broken piece of engine, looking more and more like a dagger, was poised just above his heart. It had already taken off the top few buttons of Tony’s button up shirt. Tony began to beg the cosmos for help. He was mentally screaming, _Help me! Please someone help me!_

  His father raised the dagger and Tony squeezed his eyes shut and went limp. The air had stopped moving. Suddenly, the air began to feel like it was burning and an orange glow appeared through Tony’s shut eyelids. The sound of heavy boots came towards Tony and his father. Harsh Russian was spat out at a fast pace. His father began to respond but cut off with a gurgle. Tony dropped to the ground and gasped for breath, eyes still closed. He crawled a few feet away and turned around, opening his eyes.

    His father was dangling and twisting in the orange-glowing air. He had a metal hand around his neck. Tony followed the metal hand up to a metal arm up to a flesh and blood man. This man was dressed in all black with a muzzle over his nose and mouth. He had long brown hair framing his face and the muzzle. The man glanced over at Tony and Tony was cooled from the rising heat by the man’s icy blue eyes. Those eyes glossed over the cut on Tony’s cheek and the developing bruises around Tony’s neck, the sight of which caused him to growl. Tony’s father whimpered. The man tightened his grip and his father’s neck snapped. His father stopped moving. The man dropped his father’s body and made his way over to Tony.

   Tony whimpered and cowered, arms over his face, scared of the man that saved him but might also kill him. The sound of his footsteps stopped a foot in front of Tony. From the gaps in his arms, Tony saw the man crouch down and take the glove off of his right hand, revealing flesh underneath. “Shh, I won’t hurt you, my mission. I will protect you until the parameters of the rest of the mission are met.” The man said in accented English. Tony lowered his arms. _My mission? Mission Parameters? What is he talking about?_ “Who are you?” Tony asked, rubbing at his chest, heart still racing a mile a minute.

    “I am the Winter Soldier,” the man said and touched Tony’s chest over his heart. The orange glow got brighter and brighter and brighter. The heat rose and rose and rose. Tony and the Winter Soldier passed out.


End file.
